Every day the routine walk from the Mineral Resources carpark to my work station takes me on a journey back in time.
Wallpapers adorn the hallways, past the gymnasium and medical centre on the right; the aquatic recovery and lap pool on the left.
Great moments in club history are celebrated in spectacular design; every step revealing a little more of glorious moments.
A few metres past the exit to the main oval are the football department offices. On a wall outside the coaches workstations is a ‘leaderboard’ featuring those icons of the football club who have played 200 games.
It’s one of those features that subliminally you know is there, but generally it draws a cursory glance as you continue the passage to your desk.
But on Wednesday during the week I was moved to stop; to take a moment and absorb the sense of what that board actually means.
Shannon Hurn sits at the top of the list with 324 games. There are 27 others listed below him, Chris Mainwaring the last of them with 201.
Eyes rolling from top to bottom it was a poignant reminder of the stars, past and present, who have impacted this club since 1987. It has been my privilege to witness firsthand all of their careers, both in a previous life in the media and currently from inside the organisation.
We have ridden the highs and the occasional low with them.
Perhaps it was the subconscious at work on Wednesday when the handbrake was pulled at this particular juncture on the walk into the facility.
It has been a rough start to the 2023. One victory in the first six outings, the team’s output seriously impeded by injury. You have no option but to soldier on in this business; suck it up, get on with it and have a crack.
There’s no doubt the team has done that, but just one tick in the “W” column in six games is the reality.
Let’s get back to that 200-game board. Perusing those names and there are six current players who feature, starting with “Bunga”- our only 300-game veteran.
Also on the list are Jack Darling (263), Andrew Gaff (258), Luke Shuey (242), Nic Naitanui (212) and Jamie Cripps (203). All of them wonderful servants of the West Coast Eagles, although to read social media commentary around them, if you knew no better, you would question their worth.
Results aside, perhaps the most frustrating and annoying aspect of this season has been the willingness of fans to cut loose those who have served us so proudly; those who have given us so much over their glittering careers.
‘Sack ‘em all,’ they say. They’re all past it.’ Geez, there are some callous people operating in the ‘social’ space.
Yes, the availability – or more particularly the lack of it – has been frustrating. Put yourself in the shoes of the players and magnify infinitely the sense of helplessness. The club needs its best players in the heat of battle and the players themselves would do anything to be there.
Collectively those currently on the senior list have been the heartbeat of the club; the fabric around which so much success was built.
Ahhhh yes, I can hear the cacophony from keyboards across the country. ‘They’re done.’
The thing is a culture of unity is not created around a mass cull. Yes, the time comes for every player, but terminating anyone over the age of 30 in one fell swoop is counterintuitive.
We call for loyalty, for players to commit to the club and then want to send them packing when it’s not going well. We want this to be a destination club, we want players to choose the Eagles because we are a stable, united organisation.
That 200-game board is a poignant reminder of where we have been. And the calibre of people needed to get us back there.
